DRUG TAKEN BY STUDENTS UNUSUAL HERE

ST. CATHARINES - The drug three Port Colborne High School
students may have taken Monday is not typically found in Niagara, says
Paul Niesink, of Niagara Alcohol and Drug Assessment Services.

Niagara Regional Police believed the three students may have smoked
Ketamine, or Special K on the street, with marijuana.

One teen was taken to Port Colborne General Hospital after passing out
and two others were taken there shortly after when they had elevated
heart rates and high fevers. All have since recovered.

Niesink says Ketamine is an animal tranquillizer used by veterinarians
and its street use usually takes place at raves, or events like that.

"It's one of those drugs that really doesn't fit into any specific
category most kids use."

The drug has sedative qualities and gives a hallucinatory effect,
which fits in with the use of lights and music at most raves.

It can be taken in pill form, says Niesink, or by crushing it and then
adding it to a liquid or snorting it directly. At times it is mixed
with other drugs, including crystal meth.

"It does comes in powder form."

"The reason that is not a particularly healthy drug is that it is a
controlled substance and young people don't have the knowledge or
experience to administer it properly. Inexperience and lack of
tolerance could relate to some serious health effects."

Niesink says hypertension, hypotension, heart problems, sleep
disorders, respiratory suppression and long term memory impairment,
could all happen as a result of taking the drug in whatever form.

"In terms of drugs we see here (at Niagara Alcohol and Drug Assessment
Services), Ketamine is pretty low on the list compared to others."

Niagara Alcohol and Drug Assessment Services is the only agency in
Niagara that sees youth for drug and alcohol problems.

It is based in St. Catharines, but has outreach programs in Niagara
and satellite offices in Welland, Fort Erie, Grimsby and Niagara Falls.